Let Your True Self Shine: Increase Sales By Being Congruent

Always say what you believe and know to be true.

When it comes to communication body language and tone actually mean more than the words you speak. This is why it is important to be congruent. If you are telling clients or prospects something that is not 100% true or that you do not fully believe, it will come through in your body language and tone. While your words might be saying one thing, body language and tone will be saying another. This lack of congruency is easy to spot. It will lead to clients and prospects not fully trusting you and lead to less clients. The easy solution to this is to always say what you believe and know to be true.

Recently in my own market in Northern Virginia and the Greater DC area, I have seen a potential issue come up that I believe will be hard for many agents to be congruent about. This has to do with solo agents trying to market themselves as a real estate team. The rise of real estate teams has been a dominant trend in real estate during the last several years. Teams offer a number of advantages ranging from having more developed systems, bigger market budgets and quicker advancement along the experience curve. Lately I have seen many solo agents respond to this trend by adding the word “group” or “team” after their name. There is a big difference between doing that and hiring people to help grow your business and deliver better service to your clients. I imagine when clients and prospects ask a solo agent who is pretending to be a team about his or her team; it is hard for that agent to speak congruently. In most cases this is probably going to lead to less business.

What Should Solo Agents Do

If you find yourself in this position my advice would be to pick a direction and commit to it. If you are a solo agent doing two or three transactions a month, or think you will be there soon, make your first hire. By doing so you will gain the following benefits:

Free yourself from administrative tasks

Spend more time on activities that are more profitable or more fulfilling

Deliver better service to clients

Grow your business

Develop more leadership and business skills while helping others

If you are not ready to take this step, that is fine, but do not pretend to be something you are not.

Be the best solo agent you can be. When you meet with clients talk about the benefits you can offer them as a solo agent. Some examples are completely hands on service, interacting with one person from start to finish and a bespoke customer experience. (There are ways for teams to do this as well) If you do this your business will grow to the point where you can make your first hire and really become a time. No matter where you are in your real estate career, if you remember to stay congruent, not only will your business grow more, but you will be able to do it in a more satisfying why since you are remaining true to yourself.